/Per
--
per@mosseby.com
+46704836270
20081112
20080816
Jake E. Lee Shreds
This must be a trend that I've totally missed. My God. I haven't laughed this much in a long time. I've cried for several minutes now.
20080809
So what do I think?
Yesterday, our prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt gave his summer speech out in Vaxholm. Fredrik was covering three main priorities for next year:
To me, the speech was both substantial and inspiring. Sure, a substance about the direction of the Moderate's politics was expected, and the content was not surprising. But to me, the more subtle parts were even more important. Fredrik explains, that much of the weakened support during the past two years is a natural effect from the initial phases of the reforms that has been put in place. What Fredrik didn't say outright, is that we're going to have to be very much better over the next two years in showing all the positive effects from these reforms.
I agree. A couple of friends who heard my introduction of the prime minister, was surprised that I didn't use the opportunity to mention any of the issues of importance for me or for Vaxholm. But Fredrik's summer speech is about his politics, not mine or the local politics in Vaxholm.
So, what would I have said?
For starters, I would stressed the importance of making Sweden a better country for entrepreneurs. And I would have been enthusistiastic about the opportunities that we in Sweden still have to turn ourselves into a leading country for new technologies and services in the world. I'm more and more afraid each day, that much of our welfare actually relies on foundations built decades and even over a century ago. And the exciting things that happen in (Fenno-)Scandinavia, are increasingly happening in our neighboring countries.
And I would have talked about the Baltic Sea, and the importance of making sure that it stays alive both today and in the future. This will require a huge effort of all the countries around the Baltic Sea, and we'll have our best possibility to drive this agressively during our upcoming chairmanship of the EU.
- Lowering income taxes even further. This will, hopefully, temporarily secure Sweden's recent place as number two in the world's taxation league. Perhaps even a step towards place number three?
- A "future" package including infrastructure investments and basic research. I'm curious as to how the government will choose to spend those research money.
- A "safety" package with more money to the district attorneys, Swedish courts et cetera. Also an increase in spending on public psychiatric care.
To me, the speech was both substantial and inspiring. Sure, a substance about the direction of the Moderate's politics was expected, and the content was not surprising. But to me, the more subtle parts were even more important. Fredrik explains, that much of the weakened support during the past two years is a natural effect from the initial phases of the reforms that has been put in place. What Fredrik didn't say outright, is that we're going to have to be very much better over the next two years in showing all the positive effects from these reforms.
I agree. A couple of friends who heard my introduction of the prime minister, was surprised that I didn't use the opportunity to mention any of the issues of importance for me or for Vaxholm. But Fredrik's summer speech is about his politics, not mine or the local politics in Vaxholm.
So, what would I have said?
For starters, I would stressed the importance of making Sweden a better country for entrepreneurs. And I would have been enthusistiastic about the opportunities that we in Sweden still have to turn ourselves into a leading country for new technologies and services in the world. I'm more and more afraid each day, that much of our welfare actually relies on foundations built decades and even over a century ago. And the exciting things that happen in (Fenno-)Scandinavia, are increasingly happening in our neighboring countries.
And I would have talked about the Baltic Sea, and the importance of making sure that it stays alive both today and in the future. This will require a huge effort of all the countries around the Baltic Sea, and we'll have our best possibility to drive this agressively during our upcoming chairmanship of the EU.
20080805
Fredrik Reinfeldt in Vaxholm
Our prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will give his annual summer speech at Söderhamnsplan, in Vaxholm now on Saturday (Aug 9) at 13.00 hrs. I trust that we will get a good insight into what Fredrik and the government will be prioritizing for the second half of his first four years as prime minister.
Also: as chairman of the Moderate party in Vaxholm, I have the pleasure of getting to introduce Fredrik. Come out to Vaxholm and say hi!
20080723
Great business leaders
Martin Varsavsky is reflecting around his first-hand experiences from meeting great business leaders.
Europe's new entrepreneurialism
I had breakfast at the "Europe's new entrepreneurialism" roundtable this morning, and we turned out to have a really great discussion. Among the participants were Martin Varsavsky, Tariq Krim, Loïc le Meur and Alexander Straub - and it was moderated by Christiane zu Salm.
The discussion took off from the "classical" Europe vs. Silicon Valley perspective. The room was full of people who are handling this differently today: Loïc who moved to SF before he started Seesmic, Tariq who early on chose to start an office in SF, while always keeping the development in Paris, Alexander who has had different models along the way, and Martin who still runs Fon from Spain.
Everyone seemed to agree that Silicon Valley has a lot of advantages, that really helps when you are running a startup:
I couldn't agree more with the quality of living. For me, I have a hard time imagining a better place to live in, and for my kids to grow up in, than Vaxholm where I live. But on the other hand: the know and the flow around Internet applications in the Valley is extraordinary. Hopefully we'll find ways to combine the two.
The discussion took off from the "classical" Europe vs. Silicon Valley perspective. The room was full of people who are handling this differently today: Loïc who moved to SF before he started Seesmic, Tariq who early on chose to start an office in SF, while always keeping the development in Paris, Alexander who has had different models along the way, and Martin who still runs Fon from Spain.
Everyone seemed to agree that Silicon Valley has a lot of advantages, that really helps when you are running a startup:
- Access to capital. Both angels and later-stage investments are easier to land in the US than in Europe - and the amount of invested VC funding is roughly five times larger in the US. This is a huge opportunity for European VC:s, who hopefully will use it. But a lot of it is still due to attitude: "European VCs never dare to invest in greater or crazy ideas like Fon", Martin says.
- Ambitions: Too many European entrepreneurs get stuck with more or less unconsciously limiting their ambitions to the local market to where they come from. "You feel very lonely when you're working from there", said Loïc, and "You can really feel how you are raising your ambitions as soon as you're flying in over the US", said Alex.
- Management: In Europe, it is harder to find good management that can take companies on from successful startups to multi-million dollar operations.
I couldn't agree more with the quality of living. For me, I have a hard time imagining a better place to live in, and for my kids to grow up in, than Vaxholm where I live. But on the other hand: the know and the flow around Internet applications in the Valley is extraordinary. Hopefully we'll find ways to combine the two.
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